Front elevation of Exeter Hall, Strand, City of Westminster. Exeter Hall was erected between 1829 and 1831 to designs by John Peter Gandy Deering and enlarged by S. W. Daukes in 1850. The site was previously occupied by the Exeter Exchange, famous for its menagerie of wild animals, and prior to this, by part of Exeter House (formerly Burghley House and Cecil House), the London residence of the Earls of Exeter since the sixteenth century. Built in response to the lack of indoor meeting space in London, with room for 3000 people, with a platform to accommodate 500. Exeter Hall hosted religious and philanthropic meetings, including meetings of the Anti-Slavery Society, and was the headquarters of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). A seven-hour public meeting was hosted here by the South Australia Company on 30 June 1834 to support the establishment of the free colony of South Australia. The entrance consists of a portico, formed by two Corinthian columns and two Corinthian-style pilasters. Over this is a stone plaque with the Greek word Philadelpheion, meaning fraternal love. A poster advertises: 'Every Sunday at 3.45pm Men's Meeting. Orchestral Band Solos. Brief Addresses. All Men Invited'. The entrance is between two three-storey buildings with mansard roof and dormer windows, and shops on the ground floor. On the left, number 373 is the American Shoe Company with displays of shoes in the shop window, and an American eagle painted on the window. They advertise: 'Wichert and Gardeners High Class Shoes and Fancy Slippers'. On the right, number 371 is The British Tea Table Company Limited with an advertisement for 'Tea, Coffee and Chocolate', and 'Separate Tables for Ladies' and Machine Made Bread Cakes and Pastries'. On the upper floors of these buildings is Haxells Hotel, formerly the Royal Exeter Hotel, owned by Edward Nelson Haxell and his wife Arabella. Exeter Hall was sold by the YMCA to the J. Lyons & Co. in July 1907. It was demolished, and on the site was built the Strand Palace Hotel, opening in September 1909.